Walk this Flay to Bobby’s Burger Palace

We had January 29, 2014, circled on our calendar. Why? Because that date was the Grand Opening of Bobby’s Burger Palace on The Strip! Bobby Flay’s Las Vegas opening marks the 18th location of his nationwide burger chain. We were thrilled to try this burger joint because we not only appreciate a good burger, but we were pleased that the price point was doable especially for a celebrity chef’s restaurant. However, a quick glance at the menu made us realize that the Vegas prices are a couple of dollars more than those listed online. Perhaps it is the plush location? After all, this dining establishment is located in the midst of upscale alley. It is directly in front of the Mandarin Oriental and just a stone’s throw away from the uber upscale Crystals Mall. So, starting at $8.50 and featuring a menu of burgers that shine a light on regional American culinary influences, these were our choices:

Should we try the brand-new Vegas Burger made with white American cheese, BBQ potato chips, and Fresno red chiles or the New Mexico Burger with queso sauce, pickled red onions, and roasted green chiles? Perhaps the Philadelphia Burger with Provolone Cheese, griddled onions, and hot peppers would win our selection. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions, decisions…. Life sure is difficult sometimes! In the end, we chose to dine on the Crunchified (potato chips added) Palace Classic with Cheddar, an order of fries, a vanilla bean milkshake, and the New Mexico Burger.

While placing our order at the counter, we signed up for the BBP Rewards Card. You earn one point for every dollar spent. When you get to 100 points, you earn a free entrée! We took a seat and glanced around while we patiently waited for our food to be cooked. The interior is very vibrant and modern; lots of spicy colors like orange and red cooled down with avocado green. The art consists of photographs of fresh foods featured on the walls. The very casual communal-like tables would probably irritate us had it been super busy, however the restaurant was half empty (it was “Big Game” Sunday and there are no televisions in the restaurant), so we had a huge table all to ourselves. What about the food?

We substituted American for Cheddar (Don’t tell Bobby)

The vanilla bean milkshake was delicious. It is served with a spoon and an extra large bubble-tea type of straw so you can suck it straight down. The French fries were delicious right down to the crispy bits left in the bottom. We asked the friendly waitress if they were double fried and she confirmed our thoughts. The BBP Fry Sauce is a mayonnaise-based dipping sauce with chipotles and red pepper blended in for good measure. Trust us, it was tasty! If you are someone who likes condiments on your burger, you can try Bobby Flay’s jalapeno hot sauce, chipotle ketchup, and burger sauce; they are right there for you to sample on the table. If you like them, you can buy your own bottles to take home. They even have regular old ketchup and mustard for those of you who like classic condiments. The burgers? They were good! When it comes to toppings, Mr. Flay wins our hearts because he offers several selections with spicy options. The burgers were not obnoxiously big; they were just enough to enjoy entirely without having any regrets afterward. We might also mention that the fries were plenty big enough for two to share. Our only critical observation was with the bun, itself. We like toasted buns but this one tasted a little dry. Other than that, we’ll certainly dust off the good old BBP Rewards Card sometime in the near future and make another trek down to The Strip!